Camper

ABSTRACT

A camper body for use with a truck having a driver&#39;&#39;s cab and a truck bed rearwardly of said cab. The camper body is designed to provide a relatively large sleeping space and a storage space and at the same time leave the major portion of the truck and truck bed free for use in its ordinary function of hauling articles.

United States Patent [191 Kinberger May 29, 1973 CAMPER [76] Inventor:James E. Kinberger, PO. Box 372,

Stinson Beach, Calif.

[22] Filed: Oct. 19, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 81,704

52 US. CL, ..296/23 MC, 296/99 511 Int. Cl; ..B60p 3/32 581 Field ofSearch ..296/23 MC, 23 R, 296/99 '[56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS Hall ..296/23 R 3,169,792 2/1965 Viquez ..296/99 3,469,8819/1969 McNamee ..296/23 MC Primary Examiner-Philip GoodmanAttorneyGordon Wood [57] ABSTRACT A camper body for use with a truckhaving a driver's cab and a truck bed rearwardly of said cab. The camperbody is designed to provide a relatively large sleeping space and astorage space and at the same time leave the major portion of the truckand truck bed free for use in its ordinary function of hauling articles.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Patented May 29, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 rf I4 I I I I I I r If INVENTOR- J/VMFS E. KIA/85865? &, a

q y 4a CAMPER This invention relates to a camper body which is adaptedto be applied to a conventional truck having a drivers cab and a loadcarrying bed rearwardly of said cab. Heretofore campers of an analogoustype have been designed to provide a sleeping space and at the same timeprovide space for other materials such as cooking stoves, utensils andthe like. One disadvantage of prior art campers is that the entire bodyof the truck is taken up with the camper body so that the utility of thetruck body is lost. It is the main object of the present invention toprovide a camper body which may be employed with a truck and at the sametime leave a major portion of the truck body and truck bed unobstructedfor its usual function of hauling articles.

Another object of the invention 'isthe provision of a camper body havinga compartment sufficiently large to permit two people to sleep thereinand at the same time leave a major portion of the truck unencumbered foruse in hauling articles.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a combinationcamper and truck body wherein access is provided between the cab and thesleeping compartment thereby insuring security for the occupants and atthe same time permitting a person access to the two spaces withouthaving to go outside.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a camper bodywhich lends itself to use with a conventional truck cab and truck bodyso that the connection between the camper body and the truck isextremely rigid.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing-specification and from the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side'elevation of a conventional pickup truckshowing one form of the'camper body secured thereto.

FIG. 2 is a transfer sectional view through the truck bed showing thecamper body in end elevation as taken in a plane indicated by lines 2-2of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross section through the rear wall of the caband the pedestal of the camper body taken in a plane indicated by lines3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a modified form of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section through the large compartment as taken ina plane indicated by lines 5--5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a typical cross section through one of the connectorsconnecting the camper to the cab and similar to a view taken in a planeindicated by lines 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross section through the access opening betweenthe cab and the large compartment as taken in a plane indicated by lines7-7 of FIG. 5.

In detail and first with reference to FIG. 1 the invention is adapted tobe employed with a conventional pickup truck having a cab generallydesignated 10 which includes a top 11 and a rear wall 12. The truck alsoincludes a load carrying bed 13 and a pair of opposite longitudinallyextending sidewalls 14, 15 (FIG. 2,).

The camper body comprises two main portions integrally connectedtogether. Such portions are a relatively large horizontally disposedupper compartment generally designated A, and a generally verticallydisposed pedestal portion generally designated B. The

upper compartment has a lower floor 18 a top 19 and a pair of oppositesidewalls 20, 21 which may extend downwardly to provide the sidewalls ofthe pedestal portion B.

The front wall 23 preferably slants upwardly and rearwardly as indicatedin FIG. 1 and is provided with a window generally designated 24. Therear wall 25 of the upper compartment is preferably vertical and isprovided with a window generally designated 26. To provide a pleasingappearance consistent with the slanting forward surface of the cab 10and the slanting of front wall 23 of the upper compartment the rearedges of sidewalls 20, 21 may extend slantingly upwardly and rearwardlyto connect with a rearward extension of the top 19 as indicated in FIG.1.

The pedestal portion B of the camper is provided with a front wall 30, arear wall 31 and a bottom wall 32. As stated above the sidewalls ofpedestal B may be integral continuations of sidewalls 20, 21 of theupper compartment A.

It will be seen at this point that the construction of the camperincluding the rigid sidewalls 20, 21 creates an extremely strongstructure which may be fixedly secured to the similarly rigid top andrear wall of the cab 10. As seen in FIG. 1 the bottom or floor 18 ofupper compartment A is spaced slightly upwardly from the top 11 of thecab and centrally apertured spacers 34, preferably at least four innumber, are interposed between said floor 18 and the cab top 11. As bestseen in FIG. 6 bolts 35 and nuts 36 may be employed to secure the camperto the top 11 of the cab. In a similar manner the connection of FIG. 6may be employed to secure the front wall 30 of the pedestal portion B tothe rear wall 12 of the cab. Additional support for the unit may beobtained by means of bolts 38 connecting the sides 20, 21 with thesidewalls 14, 15 respectively of the truck body. In view of the rigidityof the cab construction it will be seen that the weight of the camperbody can be adequately resisted by the cab itself. For this reason thelower wall 32 of the pedestal B may be elevated somewhat from the bed 13of the truck so that the truck may still be employed to handle longobjects such as lengths of pipe, lumber, building supplies and the likewhich may be interposed at their forward ends beneath the pedestal B andthe bed 13 of the truck. However as seen in FIG. 4 showing a modifiedform of the camper the pedestal B may be long enough so that the lowerwall 32' rests on the bed 13 of the truck. Naturally this constructionresults in less of a load being impressed on the cab.

One of the important features of the present invention is the provisionof direct access between the cab and the upper compartment A. This isaccomplished by providing an opening 40 (FIG. 7) in the top 11 of thecab and a similar opening 41 in the floor 18 of the upper compartment. Agenerally rectangular spacer frame 42 is provided around said openingsand may be secured to the floor 18 by means of screws 43. The accessopening thus formed may be closed by means of a cover 44 if desired(FIG. 5).

The left-hand side of pedestal B may be formed to provide a verticallyelongated compartment 47 (FIG. 3) having an inner vertical wall 48. InFIG. 3 there is shown a frame 50 on a rear wall 12 of the cab which isadapted to receive a glass pane therein. This pane may be removed so asto provide access from the cab into a small upper compartment 51 on theright-hand side of pedestal B provided with a bottom 52. Thiscompartment 51 greatly enhances storage space available from the cabspace. Beneath the compartment 51 a lower compartment may be providedabove the bottom wall 32 and such lower compartment may be provided witha door 53 (FIG. 2) for access from the bed of the truck. Similarly thevertically elongated compartment 47 may be provided with a rearwardlyopening door 54.

The effective size of the camper may be reduced while traveling bytelescoping a portion of the upper compartment A. Thus as best seen inFIG. 4 a generally rectangular inner member 60 may be telescopicallyreceived within the open rear end of compartment A. Said structure 60comprises a bottom wall 61 opposite sidewalls 62, upper wall 63 and endwall 64. In order to retain the telescopic structure 60 in its innerposition a pair of bolts 66 may be passed through bottom wall 61 andthrough elongated slots 67 formed in floor 18 of pedestal A. When thetelescoped structure 60 is in its inner position the bolts 66 may betightened to secure the structure in place. When it is desired to employthe upper compartment A as a sleeping space the bolts 66 may be loosenedand the structure 60 moved to its outer position as shown in dot dashlines in FIG. 4. In such outer position the bolts abutting thecorresponding outer ends of slots 67 prevent further outward movement ofthe telescoped structure.

It will be apparent that the above described invention providessubstantially all of the important features found in a conventionalcamper and at the same time permits the truck on which the camper iscarried to be employed without substantial impairment of its customaryfunctions. It will be understood that the particular size of the camperis not critical but preferably the upper compartments A and A should beat least seven feet in length to provide a sleeping space. With respectto pedestal B it has been found that one having a depth in the directionof travel of the vehicle equal to about one-third of the length of thetruck bed is large enough to accommodate a substantial number ofarticles and at the same time not to impair the use of the truck bed forhauling articles.

The material from which the camper is built may be metal, plywood,plastic sheeting or any combination thereof. I

I claim:

1. In a vehicle having a driver's cab and a horizontally disposed loadcarrying bed rearwardly of said cab:

means forming a relatively large compartment posi tioned over said caband extending horizontally rearwardly thereof,

a vertically disposed pedestal connected with said compartment at itsupper end and extending downwardly alongside the rear side of said cab,

said pedestal having a width in the direction of travel of said vehicleequal to less than one-half of the longitudinal extent of said bed,

whereby the remaining portion of said bed is unobstructed to permitsupporting articles thereon for hauling the same.

2. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said compartment and saidpedestal are formed as an integral unit.

3. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said pedestal is hollow toform a storage space therein.

4. A vehicle according to claim 3 wherein said pedestal is provided witha door on one sidewall thereof permitting access to the interior of saidpedestal.

5. A vehicle according to claim 4 wherein said door is on the rearsidewall of said pedestal.

6. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein the bottom side of saidpedestal is spaced upwardly from said bed.

7. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein the bottom of said compartmentand the top of said cab are provided with registering openingssubstantially less than the area of said top to allow access betweensaid compartment and said cab.

1. In a vehicle having a driver''s cab and a horizontally disposed loadcarrying bed rearwardly of said cab: means forming a relatively largecompartment positioned over said cab and extending horizontallyrearwardly thereof, a vertically disposed pedestal connected with saidcompartment at its upper end and extending downwardly alongside the rearside of said cab, said pedestal having a width in the direction oftravel of said vehicle equal to less than one-half of the longitudinalextent of said bed, whereby the remaining portion of said bed isunobstructed to permit supporting articles thereon for hauling the same.2. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said compartment and saidpedestal are formed as an integral unit.
 3. A vehicle according to claim1 wherein said pedestal is hollow to form a storage space therein.
 4. Avehicle according to claim 3 wherein said pedestal is provided with adoor on one sidewall thereof permitting access to the interior of saidpedestal.
 5. A vehicle according to claim 4 wherein said door is on therear sidewall of said pedestal.
 6. A vehicle according to claim 1wherein the bottom side of said pedestal is spaced upwardly from saidbed.
 7. A vehicle according to claim 1 wherein the bottom of saidcompartment and the top of said cab are provided with registeringopenings substantially less than the area of said top to allow accessbetween said compartment and said cab.